PUTRAJAYA – A mother and her two children, who are Malaysians, and her Sudanese husband who were trapped in Sudan’s Al Gaza region are now on their way to Port Sudan.
According to a media statement from Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry, the effort to move them out was handled by Taskforce Ops Sudan and they are expected to reach their destination today.
The family is not registered with the Malaysian embassy, and the information about them was received through the Facebook Messenger app of the Malaysian embassy in Sudan on April 30.
The ministry, through the Malaysian ambassadors to Saudi Arabia and Sudan, is requesting the assistance of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan’s embassy in Sudan so that they can board a ship to be taken out of Port Sudan to Jeddah in the near future, said the statement.
The statement added that two Malaysians who joined the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei mission in the Abyei region are safe because the region has not been badly affected by the fighting in Sudan so far.
They are Zazalina Ghazali and Naadifarin Che Kamaruddin and, if the situation warrants it, the process of evacuating them will be handled by the UN.
Previously, on April 28, the Malaysian government had successfully brought back 30 of its citizens via Saudi Arabia’s flag carrier.
The fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces that broke out since April 15 is still ongoing and reportedly intense, with efforts to reach a ceasefire still unsuccessful.
According to a report by Sudan’s Health Ministry, 528 people have been killed and 4,599 injured as a result of the conflict. – Bernama, May 3, 2023
